On Accepting Imperfections

Almost done with January. Almost there, almost there…I started off last week feeling really focused, but ended it feeling very self-critical. Add generous dashes of glumness and heaping servings of anxiety and rumination.

I spent the weekend trying to center myself and mentally prep for the busy week ahead of me. Yoga Saturday and a Barre class from PopSugar Fitness that completely kicked my ass on Sunday. Weekly chores. Coffee. Bookstore, where I sat down with a copy of Mindful magazine, where I read the following soothing words: “Fear: Self-criticism is an effective motivator. Truth: It’s not. Our self-criticism tends to undermine self-confidence and leads to fear of failure. If we’re self-compassionate, we will still be motivated to reach our goals – not because we’re inadequate as we are, but because we care about ourselves and want to reach our full potential.”

Wise words, indeed. I love when I’m reading a magazine or book and I feel like the sentence I’m reading is speaking directly to me and it’s exactly what I needed to hear. It’s very soothing.

Husband asked me if I wanted to do some retail therapy at a yarn shop this weekend, and we even drove right by one this weekend. BUT I DIDN’T STEP FOOT IN ONE! I haven’t bought yarn in a month, and it feels great! I’m still determined to craft as much from my stash as I can. This weekend I restarted a long-dormant project. Remember the 2017 Scheepjes Hygge Crochet-a-long? I had ordered the kit back when it was first released, and had started making progress on Week 1 of the CAL. It was abandoned for several reasons – I was knee-deep in my first PE exam attempt and realizing that maybe I should, you know, study for it. Wedding planning and a trip to Italy occupied my thoughts after taking the exam, and I never picked up the project again.

But most importantly – I hated my bobbles. They were not bobble-y enough (which apparently was a common complaint. There were several hacks to make the bobbles bobblier, which I never attempted).

So yes, the box has just been sitting under the craft table for the past 2 years.

I opened it this weekend thinking, if I could finish this before moving to Indiana, then I will feel really accomplished. AND it will be one less box to pack. So I dove into the project. I frogged the initial attempt and restarted the Week 1 pattern. I made some decent progress with my bobbles.

The first row of bobbles was stitched using a pattern hack, but I was unhappy with the results, as the color of the bobble is showing through the piece.

It wasn’t until I was on the second row of bobbles that I realized this. I was at a crossroads – do I frog the entire project again, or accept the imperfections and continue? I knew that if I undid all my progress, the chances of my starting the project again were small. I wasn’t doing this piece for a commission. What if I just accepted the inherent flaws, continued experimenting with bobble stitches until I found one I liked, and continued stitching the piece?

This is ultimately what I ended up doing. I found a stitch I liked and I think they’re working out pretty well. I will need to compare how my bobble stitches are worked up with the official CAL videos. If they’re different, I’ll post what I did here. I have to say that while the bobbles are not PERFECT, I’m pleased with how they are progressing.

::Insert paragraph about accepting my own flaws and imperfections, much like I would with my crochet projects, HERE and while I will continue making mistakes, as long as there is overall growth then I’m on the right track blah blah blah IT’S ALMOST FEBRUARY::

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6 thoughts on “On Accepting Imperfections”

My fog shawl has quite a few mistakes in it and at some point I had to remind myself that they’re all little things–unless I have someone else who’s also a knitter looking at it very carefully, no one’s going to notice them. And the knitters (crocheters, crafters, etc) understand that mistakes happen.